The rental fleet sector showed a slight decline in vehicle sales last month and was the only metric that declined year-over-year, according to monthly fleet sales figures released by Bobit Business Media on April 1.

Despite the little dip, rental fleet sales for Q1 2026 still kept a healthy bounce compared to Q1 2025, with sales of 358,434 vehicles, up 4.2% from 344,021 in the same quarter last year.

Overall, combined sales in the three primary fleet sectors gained for the month and for Q1 when compared to 2025.

Sales gains in the three fleet segments for March 2026 were as follows:

• Rental fleet sales fell a slight 1% for the month, from 137,645 rental cars sold in March 2025 to 136,267 vehicles sold last month.

• Commercial fleet sales rose to 74,527 vehicles last month, up from 71,664 in March 2025, up 4%.

• Government fleet vehicle sales gained by a sliver, with 20.759 vehicles sold in March, up 0.6% from 20,641 vehicles sold in March 2025. (The six major Asian-based automakers did not report any government fleet numbers for March.)

Those numbers resulted in total March fleet sales of 231,553, up a miniscule 0.7% from 229,950 vehicles sold in March 2025.

“Rental vehicle sales declined 1% in March compared to last year but were up 4% in the quarter compared to Q1 2025,” said Zohaib Rahim, senior manager of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive. “Rental fleet sales benefited from tax reform and pull-ahead demand late 2025, but it is too early to tell if the pull-ahead momentum is starting to impact demand (and ultimately purchases) since sales increased on a month-over-month basis.”

Year-to-date sales in the rental, commercial, and government fleet sectors, which span Q1, are still pacing ahead of last year, with 615,668 total fleet vehicles sold in March, up 5.5% from 583,612 vehicles sold in Q1 2025.

Bobit Business Media (BBM), owner of Auto Rental News, compiles fleet sales statistics based on aggregate data from the three major Detroit-based auto manufacturers, the Asian Big 6 automakers, and VW. The statistics include cars, SUVs, and trucks.